Moreau Integration Spring James DeMaro Moreau FYE 29 April 2022 Capstone Integration Assignment Within the past year, I have begun to learn more about myself by asking myself important questions such as “What role do others play in my discernment?” (“Week Five IrishCompass Activity” - Moreau FYE Week Five). Through doing this I have learned more than I ever knew about myself and have begun to formulate my values into my own personal mission statement. Taking a page out of Notre Dame’s mission statement, I have centered my own statement upon three core beliefs that will direct how I will live my life. As Notre Dame describes itself as a “University dedicated to the pursuit and sharing of truth for its own sake” (“University of Notre Dame Mission Statement” - Moreau FYE Week Thirteen), I too would like to dedicate my life to the pursuit of truth and knowledge. Additionally, since we as humans have a responsibility to help others, I will strive to encounter others through compassion. Finally, I will be proud of who I am and will not be afraid to be my best and most true self. The search for knowledge and truth makes up a core component of my personal mission statement. While most people often desire to know that truth, there are many societal factors that can come to cloud our judgment on certain issues. As described by Dr. Paul Blashko, echo chambers are extremely common on social media and can impair our opinions of certain truths. In an explanation of how these echo chambers work, Blashko gives the example of a man using the internet. “Online Paul finds himself in an ideological bubble. This is because his social network is surrounded by people with similar political interests to him” (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Dr. Paul Blaschko - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). It’s so important to stay away https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z1bZTNU9tpjCnuC9iDFLjslYaX0v4XpBwClh_GynKfo/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z1bZTNU9tpjCnuC9iDFLjslYaX0v4XpBwClh_GynKfo/edit?usp=sharing http://nd.edu/about/mission http://nd.edu/about/mission https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s&ab_channel=ThinkND https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s&ab_channel=ThinkND from these echo chambers due to their ability to cloud our perception of the world. By searching for unbiased news, I can experience the world to its fullest capacity. Within my own life, I have attempted to read unbiased news and stay away from social media. I believe that so far this has helped me to experience other people, cultures, and traditions in ways that I wouldn’t have before. Additionally, this has allowed me to discern which career path I will follow in my life. By asking myself important questions about my core values in life, I have thought hard about my major declaration. While “There is no “best major” out there - there is a “best major for you.” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). While I am still unsure of what I want to spend the rest of my life doing, searching through myself has helped to point me in the right direction. Another crucial component of the search for truth is having the courage to act upon it. As Father Hesburgh showed us, it’s important to act upon what is right. “Rome has spoken. It was censorship, and I told them no.” (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two). As human beings, we have a responsibility to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Thankfully, there are many people in our world that are already committed to this belief. “A number of ideas from those conversations have stuck with me. On the theological side, I was struck how every major religious tradition – including Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Christianity –has as a central concern of connecting our lives with those who are downtrodden, the victim, the widow, the orphan, the poor” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Professor Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine). But still, there are still groups that desperately need help. This help doesn’t always have to come in the form of volunteering at a soup kitchen. Rather, it comes through encountering others. According to Marcus Cole, a prominent civil rights activist, racial persecution is real and many people are https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit?usp=sharing completely unaware of it. “As an African-American man, I have had the experience of being pulled over by a police officer, with no apparent or expressed reason for the stop. I have been berated and verbally abused, without receiving a ticket or a warning” (“I am George Floyd. Except I can Breath” by Marcus Cole - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). As Marcus Cole hints at, we have a duty to help others. To do this, we must encounter others. Only by truly experiencing others can we come to understand their struggles and difficulties. This can also be done through education and coming to learn how others live. In the case of Father Gregory Boyle, he comes to encounter the gangs of LA by caring for them and coming to see them for who they truly are. In one such example, Father Greg experiences the compassion of the gang members who are often seen by outsiders as heartless killers. “Do me a paro, G? He says. You tell Flaco that Gato from gang says O hopes he gets better. I will do that, I tell him, with a smile, and a real admiration for the stretch this represents” (“Tattoos on the Heart” by Father Greg Boyle - Moreau FYE Week Seven). By directly encountering the gang members, Father Greg is able to spread compassion and recognize their human dignity. This is an ability that I strive for in my own life. While I may never have the opportunity to encounter others in the way Father Greg did, I can work to educate myself and others in order to spread compassion and love. The final component of my mission statement is that I will never be afraid to be the best possible version of myself. Most of our unhappiness in life stems from our inability to accept ourselves as noted by Pico Iyer. “All the unhappiness of men,” the seventeenth-century French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal famously noted, “arises from one simple fact: that they cannot sit quietly in their chamber” (“Why We Need To Slow Down Our Lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). Once we are able to come to terms with who we are as people, our lives will be exponentially better. When Jacob Walsh was able to come to terms with his own https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breathe-and-i-can-do-something/ https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breathe-and-i-can-do-something/ https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40288/modules/16287 https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ sexuality in light of his religion, he felt an incredible burden lifted from his shoulders. “When I arrived home, the stars were out. I stood by the car for a few minutes in the cold, looking at the sky. Thank you, I whispered. If I had not been attracted to the beauty of that character, the film wouldn’t have moved me as deeply as it did — I would have not been able to recognize the truth it conveyed” (“Growing up Gay and Catholic” by Jacob Walsh - Moreau FYE Week Ten). Only by accepting ourselves as people will we ever come to find true joy in our lives. As explained by Father Michael Himes, “Happiness changes from moment to moment, day to day. Joy, on the other hand, is much deeper and much more central, it comes from within, and it’s a genuine rightness of how one lives one’s life” (“Three Key Questions” adapted from Fr. Michael Himes - Moreau FYE Week Three). To find this joy, I must also change my worldview and live in the present. According to a study by Tasha Eurich, those who are more self-reflective often have worse mental health than those who are not. The people who scored high on self-reflection were more stressed, depressed and anxious, less satisfied with their jobs and relationships, more self-absorbed, and they felt less in control of their lives” (“The Right Way to be Introspective” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six). By becoming the best possible version of myself, I will be able to experience this state of joy rather than just fleeting happiness. By loving ourselves, I believe that we will all be able to find this central joy within our lives. While I may be a ways off from achieving my mission statement, by creating one I can better set realistic goals and help to outline the principles that I would like to hold in utmost importance in my life. By using the information from my Moreau classes, I better understand what beliefs I hold in high regard. By acting on my mission statement, I hope to help change myself and the world for the better. https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/community/reflective-narrative-about-being-gay-and-catholic/ https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40288/modules/16272 https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/